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Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. 

One Hundredth Anniversary. 

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REMINISCENCES ABOUT 



ABRAHAM LINCOLN 



BY 



IRA HAWORTH 



Also An Address Delivered Before the 

Washingtonian Temperance Society, at the Second 

Presbyterian Church, Springfield, Illinois, 

February 22, 1842, by 

Abraham Lincoln. 



PUBLISHED BY THE KANSAS CITY SUN, 
7)2 N. Sixth Street, Kansas City, Kansas. 






BRIEF BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR. 

For the i)urpose of answering questions often proponntied, I 
ofifer this brief statement : I was born in Wayne County, Indiana, 
on August 5th, 1827 (of Quaker parentage), where I grew to 
manhood. In m}- twenty-second year I was married and a few 
years later located in A'ermilion County, Illinois. In the early 
fifties I formed an acquaintance with Abraham Lincohi, which 
ripened into a permanent confidential life association between us. 
I was often, in his council wdien he was a prospective candidate 
for the nomination for the I'residency. I devoted much faithful 
service in promoting his opportunity for that position, which was 
crowned with success. At his solicitation, as in my inexperienced, 
youthful condition, I entered the campaign service and was 
termed "the farmer campaigner," and acquitted my labors in such 
a way as to win the approval of Mr. Lincoln, as the sequel dis- 
closes, in the reminisance published herewith, to wdiich I solicit 
your most respectful consideration. 

Ira Hawortii. 



sDl^f 



REMINISCENCES. 



Being the Observations of One of Lincoln's Early Co-work- 
ers, Concerning Events of More Than Fifty 
Years Ago, and Later. 

(By Ira Haworth, Kansas City, Kansas.) 

In the dawn of the 20th century, looking backward 
through the vista of time, I recall my first knowledge of 
Lincoln. Early in the forties, my father, then a resident of 
the state of Indiana, had correspondence with him pertaining" 
to business of the anti-slavery cause, in which my father was 
a zealous worker; and previous to this Lincoln had declared 
his opposition to slavery and its extension, basing his opinion 
on facts experienced in the South where he had been reared. 
Thus I came to know something of his individual character 
and sterling qualities of mind and heart prior to meeting him. 

Having been requested to present a pen picture of his per- 
sonal appearance as I saw him, I will cheerfully do so, be- 
. fore proceeding' further with this narrative. He Avas to the 
casual observer a peculiarh' attractive figure, indeed quite as 
much so in his general appearance as in his character ; he was 
tall and commanding in stature, of spare proportions, yet 
quite muscular, measuring six feet four inches in height in 
bare feet, weighing 180 pounds. His hair a very dark brown, 
of coarse growth ; his eyes were hazel, tending to a grayish 
hue in color, deep set, with a serious expression which quickly 
lit up Avith a very merry twinkle at the prospective intriduc- 
tion of a mirth provoking jest or humorous anecdote. His 
nose was alcove medium size and slightly of the Roman type; 
mouth large, lips firm of medium thickness, his chin covered 
with a thin beard, his features rather large to attract admir- 
ers, yet his demeanor was that of extreme simplicity, together 
with deliberate movements and cordial, dignified bearing, 
characteristic of a high and nrijjle manhood, an exemplifica- 
tion of the Creator's handiwork — an "hr)nest man,"" and among 
the large number of great and good men that have occupied 
the earth, I l^elieve that Lincoln has had ])ut few equals and 
no superior since Christ, the world's greatest moral teacher, 
dwelt among men. Both Lincoln's and my father's ancestors 
were members of a religious society knoAvn as Quakers. One 
of their declarations or tenets of faith consisted in prohibiting 
members from owning slaves, or by other means to give en- 
couragement to the system of slavery. LTence it was but a 
natural coincidence that thev should l)ccome co- workers to the 



end that the nefarious system sliould be removed from our 
fair land forever, their motto being' "Freedom for all. and all 
for Freedom." 

In the year 1846, Lincoln was elected to Congress and his 
services were snl^ciently appreciated by his constituency that 
they desired to secure them for another term, but he ecphat- 
ically declined to accept their proferred offer, stating as his 
reason that the associations of home were preferable to the 
uncongenial surroundings of life in Washington. 

In 1847 Lincoln stated in a public address his fidelity to 
the cause of temperance and then pledged his assistance for 
its advancement in all future time. Those statements attract- 
ed my profound admiration, and I was both by precept and 
practice a teetotal abstainer and on having found a public 
man living a similar life, my attachment for him at once 
became more than ordinary. During a private conversation 
we once had, he remarked that he had never in his life taken 
a drink of any kind of intoxicating liquor. And here permit 
me to state, lest I may be suspected of narrowness in my 
opinions, that while the two great sitbjects. slavery and tem- 
perance, were instrumental in form.ing the mutual acquain- 
tance by which 1 gained so much valual^le information of that 
good man during the time he was permitted to live, he was 
ever found on the side of justice and right, — at heart a Chris- 
tion. "Whatever appears to be God's will, I will do it." The 
above remark was made by Lincoln to a deputation composed 
of different denominations of religious societies in Chicago, 
111., who called on him at the White House, September 13th, 
1862. He was gifted with mysterious ways. His "wonders 
to perform," and in justification of his pure and upright life, 
I desire to mention a worthy incident which is recorded on 
page 47 in the history entitled. "Words of Lincoln," published 
by Osborn H. Oldroyd in 1895: Remarks made to the com- 
mittee who notified him at his home in May, 1860, of his 
nomination for the Presidency, "Gentlemen, we must pledge 
our mutual health in this most healthful beverage which God 
has g-iven man. It is the only beverage I have used, or al- 
lowed in my family and I cannot consistently depart from it 
on the present important occasion. It is pure Adam's ale 
from the well." And belt known that he was the one excep- 
tion of our chief magistrates who have had the integrity to 
establish a grand and noble record of this character, which 
I trust each of his successors in all future time may seek to 
emulate, not alone honoring themselves thereby, but the 
nation as well. 

The campaign of 1848 was closely contested by the most 
eminent and eloquent orators of that time. Lincoln took an 



active part in i)resenting- the issues then agitating" the public 
mind, and thus achieved notoriety, not alone in his home 
state, l)ut the neighboring- states also. The result of that 
campaign was in favor of the candidate of the Whig- party, 
but four years later that grand old party went down under 
defeat, to come up no more forever. In the year 1854, an agi- 
tation arose and soon a convulsion of no small magnitude en- 
sued. The signs of the times became propitious; the political 
horizon was disturbed as never before; conferences and con- 
ventions were the order of the day throughout the common- 
wealth. The final result terminated in calling a nationl con- 
ference to meet in the city of Philadelphia, for the purpose 
of considering the propriety of organizing a new political 
party. The voice of that conference was unanimous for such 
organization, and conferred upon it the euphonious title of 
the Republican party of Reform, and among other delibera- 
tions advised by that body, was an invitation extended to all 
' the states to form organizations, preparatory to a presidential 
campaign for the year 1856, as in uity there would be power. 
This invitation gave Lincoln another opportunity of using 
all honorable means at his command to execute the work of 
organization throughout the state and to render such assis- 
tance to surrounding localities as circumstances would permit. 
The work was arduous. The anti-slavery party discouraged 
the new movement by urging those wdio werethen without a 
party to join their ranks. The old Democratic party was 
safely in possession of the government, so well fortified that 
they were defiant and uncompromising by the slavery^ agita- 
tors and were therefore far from being asleep at their signal 
posts, and those Avho were in favor of slavery extension and 
that had originally affilliated with the AVhigs, had joined the 
oligarchy, who received them joyfully. Lincoln was expected 
to advance the new movement by organization thorughout 
the state, and having received a request from him to that 
effect (I then resided in Eastern Illinois), I published a call. 
A\"e proceeded to form an organization by electing officers 
and adjourning to give a more extended notice of a subse- 
quent meeting, which was attended by a large number, a part 
of whom were ladies, who rendered good services later on, 
as the sequel will disclose. A\'e next formed a county organ- 
ization, which in due time was merged into a state organiza- 
tion, and each county thus being auxiliary thereto, we com- 
pleted the preliminary arrangements for conducting the ap- 
proaching presidential campaign, and as my signature was 
attached to the first call, I was complimented by having a 
very familiar title conferred, — that of "Father" of the Repub- 
lican party of that vicinity, and when a few years later, hav- 
ing arranged to remove from that locality, my good friends 



adoption yet another title, that of "Great Grandfather" of the 
called on me in a social body to extend their parting saluta- 
tions, and as I was the only survivor of the original six who 
met under the call, the sons of ni}^ co-workers conferred the 
additional title of "Grandfather" of the party. As sixteen 
years have passed since this title alluded to was conferred, 
and in view of the further fact that I have completed my 
four score years of life, I will, by your permission, add by 
grand old party, and as I will soon "wrap the drapery of my 
couch about me and lie down to pleasant dreams," farewell, 
old party, farewell. And may your successors, as they go 
down the annals of time, commemorate and perpetuate the 
name and the fame of the party's first chosen Chief Magis- 
trate, Abraham Lincoln. 

But at this stage of the organization of the new party, 
the excitement in the South, as a result of the uniting of the 
forces in the North along the lines of thorough and effective 
organization (the lack of which caused the party's defeat four 
years previous), the slave rulers of the South issued their oft 
repeated warning of "54-40 or fight." and this time they meant 
business, as they had all the government munitions of war and 
its treasury in their possession, yet under such discouraging 
circumstances the new order of organization proceeded en- 
couragingl}'. Llany of those who were opposed to the insti- 
tution of slavery and had served in the ranks of the old Dem- 
ocratic part}^ took this opportunity to identify themselves with 
the new organization, and this proved to be the straw by 
which the wind indicated the approaching election of Lin- 
coln. 

Here I wish to mention another incident very creditable 
to him., which transpired previous to the meeting of the Na- 
tional Convention. Lincoln was approached by a party who 
desired to be empowered to negotiate reward for promises of 
influence at the approaching convention, to whom he gave 
this emphatic reply: "No, gentlemen, I have not sought the 
nomination, neither will I attempt to buy it with pledges. If 
I shall receive the nomination and be elected, I shall not go 
into office as the tool of this or that man, or the property of 
any faction or clique, and the people's choice will be my 
choice. I desire that the result shall be to keep the jewel of 
liberty in the family of freedom." The National Convention 
to which I was a delegate met in Chicago in Alay, 1860, and 
the result of its deliberations was selecting Lincoln as the 
standard bearer of the Republican party for the pending cam- 
paign. But at this juncture permit me to call your attention 
to an incident that occurred near the closing hour of the con- 
vention, while of minor importance, yet worthy of mention 
as having a bearing upon the present time. After the count 

6 



of the ballots and Lincoln's name was annonnced as the choice 
of the convention for the nomination, and while enthnsiasm 
was at high tide, two stalwart ushers entered the outer door 
of the wigwam, bearing" on their shoulders a unique design, 
consisting of two walnut fence rails, decked in National col- 
ors, in the center of which mounted upon a shield, was a por- 
trait of Lincoln, decorated by the American flag. As the 
men slowly pressed their way up the densely packed aisle, 
with the excitement at fever heat, the audience went wild. 
Cheers and huzzas rent the air, hats and handkerchiefs were 
thrown frantically throughout the apartments, the vast as- 
semblage rising to their feet, en masse, as the men deposited 
their standard on the platform in front, while the band struck 
up "Hail to the Chief," silencing" the babble of voices wdth 
its soul-stirring- music. From this episode the opposing polit- 
ical party designated Lincoln as the "rail-splitter'' candidate. 
The rails presented on this occasion were made l)y Lincoln in 
^vhat was then Sangamon County, State of Illinois, when he 
was twenty-one years of age, and they had been in use those 
intervening" years on the farm of John Hanks, Avho was Lin- 
coln's uncle, until transported by Llanks to Chicago, to be 
held in readiness for display in the event of Lincoln being 
the nominee. 

I may remark here incidentally that Lincoln ordered 
made from one of those rails a cane and gavel and presented 
them to me as a token of friendship, formed by several years' 
intimate association with him. and in appreciation of services 
rendered in the memorable campaign of 1860, and it is an in- 
spiring thought today, a sublime reflection, that the hand that 
felled the tree from which these momentoes were made, was the 
same master hand that by "one stroke of fen broke the shackles 
<iff four ui ill ion slaves." 

On returning" liomc from the convention we realized that 
our work had but begun. Without delay Ave proceeded to 
organize a township club, and in order to add interest, we 
invited the ladies to assist us, which produced beneficial re- 
sults. Soon after our org'anization the County Central Com- 
mittee called a mass meeting" to be held at our county seat 
and in order to create enthusiasm throughout the country, 
the committee offered a silk flag valued at .$25.00 as a prize to 
be awarded to the largest delegation making the best dis- 
play from any single township from the county. The ladies, 
foremost in every good cause, came to the rescue most nobly 
and no pains were spared in artistic designs and arranging 
pageant for parade, and when the meeting" day arrived, our 
delegation in royal array turned out some hundred strong. 
Conspicuous in the line of march in the dis])lay of states was 
"Bleeding" Kansas." Thanks to an overruling pniA'idence, no 



stain of slavery mars her fair escutcheon today. As the hour 
of adjournment approached, the command was given for all 
delegations to pass in review before the judge's stand. Eager 
eyes watched the prize flag as it was carefully conveyed to 
our ranks and hoisted at the mast head of our column. Pa- 
triotism knew no bounds, as when both old and young joined 
in a chorus of cheers, as with laurels won, we started home- 
ward bound. Beneath the folds of our silken trophy rested 
the tokens of esteem received that day from Abraham Lin- 
coln. — a cane and gavel bearing the instription of his name 
and my own. 

The remainder of the campaign marked by unflagging 
efforts, until success crowned our labors with victory at the 
polls and Lincoln was elected the sixteenth President of the 
United States. I never saw him after he took his departure 
for the seat of government. The outlook was gloomy and 
foreboding; disruption threatened; the clouds of war hovered 
ominously over the land, while anxious hearts followed him 
to his new post of duty. He seemed to realize the great 
weight of his responsibilities, as was evidenced by his own 
words, "A duty devolves on me that is greater perhaps than 
that of any man since the days of Washington." He never 
could have succeeded, except for the aid of Divine Providence, 
on which he at all times relied. "I feel that I cannot succeed, 
without the same divine aid, and on the Almighty Being I 
now place my reliance." Commensurate with his faith did 
his labors prove, and his name will go down to future gen- 
erations allied with that of ^^"ashington, "The Father of our 
Country." The one, savior and founder; the other, preserver 
and liberator. 

His keen sense of justice and right, combined with rare 
and unswerving purpose, carried the nation safely through 
the crisis of the war for the LTnion, "that this government 
of the people, by the people and for the people shall not 
perish from the earth." (This last sentence is a quotation 
from Lincoln's Gettysburg speech.) 

The arduous labor in his early years, in plucking the 
native tree from its forest bed. modeling it into man's conven- 
ience, was the rudimentary process of development whereby 
the sturdy frame and vigorous brain were made the super- 
structure to sustain the spirit in its Herculean work of coming 
years, when by the sheer force of will he held together the 
timbers of government, until at the very acme of power, at 
the supreme moment when a victorious peace was about to 
spread her benign influence over the land once more, came 
the shock of his tragic assassination at Washington. A na- 
tion mourned. The people were overwhelmed with grief. 
Each felt a loss as of a personal friend. A wail of anguish 



went forth from all loyal hearts in one agonized cry, — "Our 
leader has fallen." As voiced by the poet, Walt Whitman, 
on the death of Lincoln : 

My captain does not hear my voice, his lips are pale and still, 
My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse or will ; 
The ship is anchored safe and sound, its voyage closed and done 
From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won. 

Exult, O Shores, and ring", O Bells, 

But I with mournful tread. 
Walk the deck, — my captain lies 

Fallen, cold and dead. 

Thus passed from ''works to reward" America's greatest 
statesman, "the most perfect ruler of men the world ever saw." 
(Words of Edwin M. Stanton. He leaves to us the legacy 
of his example and good deeds that will descend to posterity, 
while the light of the imperishable principles nourished in 
the soil of human hearts will grow brighter and brighter down 
the ages, a living monument, far more beautiful than any work 
of art, more magnificent and enduring than granite. Monuments 
of marble will crumble and decay, but the monument of good 
deeds will endure forever. 

In grateful remembrance of his worth and works, we 
reverently place on memory's altar today this feeble tribute 
to our beloved "Abraham Lincoln — Emancipator, Father and 
Friend, Immortal Evermore." 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN. 

WRITTEN BY HIMSELF IN 1859, AT THE RoQUEST OF J. W. FELL^ 
OF SPRINGFIELD, ILL. 

In the note which accompanied it, the writer says, herewith 
is a httle sketch as you requested. There is not much of it, for 
the reason, I su])pose, that there is not much of me: 

'T was born February 12th, 1809, in Hardin County, Ky, 
My parents were both born in Virginia, of undistinguished fam- 
ihes, second famihes perhaps. I should say, my mother, who died 
in my tenth year, was of a family of the name of Hanks, some 
of whom now reside in Adams County, and others in Mason 
County, 111. My paternal grandfather, Abraham Lincoln, emi- 
grated from Rockingham County, Virginia, to Kentucky about 
the year 1781 or 1782, where a year or two later he was killed 
by Indians, not in battle, but by stealth when he was laboring to- 
open a farm in the forest. His ancestors, who were Ouakers^ 
went to A'irginia from Bniks County, Pa. If any personal de- 
scription of me is thought desirable, it may be said I am in height^ 
six feet four inches ; lean in flesh, w"eighing on an average, one 
hundred and eighty pounds ; dark complexioned, with coarse, dark 
hair and eyes hazel, with a greyish hue in color. No other marks- 
or brands recollected. 

Abraham Lincoln." 



Here is a sketch not so long: 
When the compiler of the dictionary of congress was pre- 
paring that work for publication in 1858, he sent Mr. Lincoln 
the usual rec[uest for a sketch of his life, to which he received 
in June of that the following reply: 

"Born February 12, 1809, in Hardin County, Ky. Education^ 
defective. Profession, a lawyer. Plave been a captain of volun- 
teers in Black Hawk war. Postmaster at a very small office. 
Four times a member of the Illinois Legislature, and was a mem- 
ber of the Low^er House of Congress. 

Yours, etc., 

Abraham Lincoln." 

LINCOLN AS POSTMASTER. 

During the intervening years of 1836 to 1837, Abrahanr 
Lincoln held the appointment of Postmaster at New Salem, 111.,, 
and in the year 1837 he located in Si)ringfield, where he engaged 
in the law practice. In 1859 an agent of the Postoffice Depart- 
ment called on him as the late Postmaster at New Salem, 111., ta 
obtain a small balance of seventeen dollars, which was found due 
the department. Going to an old trunk, Mr. Lincoln took there- 
from the exact amount, which he placed there when he sur- 
rendered the office to his successor. Handing it to the agent 
with the remark: 'T never use any man's money but my own." 

10 



'^''^S-'".-'* 




Lincoln's Birthplace. 




Abraham Lincoln's Residence, Springfield, Ill.^The Only Residence h, 



e Ever Owned. 



A FORCEFUL TEMPERANCE ADDRESS. 

Delivered Before the Washingtonian Temperance Society of Spriugfield, 
Illinois, February 22, 1842, by Abraham Lincoln. 

Although the Temperance Cause has been in prosjress for 
near twenty years, it is apparent to all that it is just now being 
crowned with a degree of success, hitherto unjiarralleled. 

The list of its friends is daily swelled bv the additions of 
fif les oi hundreds, and of thousands. The 'cause itself seems 
suddenly transformed from a cold abstract theory to a livino- 
breathmg. active and powerful cheiftain, going forth -conque?- 
ing and to conquer/' The citadels of his great adversary are 
daily being stormed and dismantled; his temples and his altars 
where the rites of his idolatrous worship have long been per- 
formed, and where human sacrifices have long been wont to be 
the conquerer s fame is sounding from hill to hill, from sea to sea 
and from land to land, and calling millions to his standard at a 
olast. 

_ For this new and splendid success we heartily rejoice That 
tnat success is so much greater now tha nheretofore. is doubt- 
less owing to rational causes; and if we would have it continue 
we shall do well to inquire what those causes are. 

The warfare heretofore waged against the demon intemper- 
ance has, somehow or other, been erroneous. Either the cham- 
pions engaged, or the tactics they adopted, have not been the most, 
proper. Ihese champions for tlie most part have been preach-' 
ers, lawyers, and hired agents, between these and the mass of 
mankind, there is a want of approachabUitx, if the term be ad-' 
luissable. partially, at least, fatal to their success. They are sup- 
posed to have no sympathy of feeling or interest, with those very 
persons whom it is their objects to convince and persuade. 

And again it is so easy and so common to ascribe motives to 
men of these classes, other than those they profess to act upon 
J he preacher, it is said, advocates temperance because he is a 
fanatic, and desires a union of the church and State- the lawyer 
trom his pnde. and vanity of hearing himself speak- and the 
hired agent for his .salary. 

But when one, who has long been known as a victim of in- 
temperance, bursts the fetters that have bound him and ap- 
pears betore his neighbors "clothed and in his right mind " a re- 
deemed specimen of long lost humanity, and stands up with tears 
of joy trembling in his eyes, to tell of the miseries once endured 
now to be endured no more forever of his once naked and 
.starving children, now clad and fed comfortably; of a wife lone- 
weighed clown with woe, weeping and a broken heart no'w re- 
stored to health, happiness and a renewed affection; an<l how 

13 



easily it is all done, once it is resolved to be done ; how simple his 
langnag-e, there is a logic and an eloquence in it that few with 
human feelings can resist. They cannot say that he desires a 
union of church and State, for he is not a church member; they 
caonnt say he is vain of hearing- himself speak, for his whole 
demeanor shows he would gladly avoid speaking" at all ; they can- 
not say he speaks for pay, for he receives none, and asks for 
none. Nor can his sincerity in any way be doubted ; or his sym- 
pathy for those he w^ould persuade to imitate his example be 
denied. 

In my judgment it is to the battles of this new class of 
champions that our late success is greatly, perhaps chiefly, owing. 
But, had the old-school champions themselves been of the most 
wise selecting, was their system of tactics the most judicious? It 
seems to me it was not. Too nuich denunciation against dram- 
sellers and dram-drinkers was indulged in. This, I think, was 
both impolitic and unjust. It was impolitic, because it is not 
much in the nature of a man to be driven to anything; still less 
to be driven about that which is exclusively his own business ; and 
least of all, where such driving is to be submitted to, at the ex- 
pense of pecuniary interest, or burning appetite. When the 
dram-seller and drinker were incessantly told, not in the accents 
of entreaty and persuasion, diffidently addressed by erring man 
to an erring- brother ; but in the thundering' tones of anathema 
and denunciation, with which the lordly judge often groups to- 
gether all the crimes of the felon's life, and thrusts them in his 
face just ere he passes sentence of death upon him, that they 
were the authors of all the vice and misery and crime of the 
land ; that they were the manufacturers and material of all the 
thieves and robbers and murderers that infest the earth ; that 
their houses were the workshops of the devil; and that their 
{.•ersons should be shunned by all the good and virtuous as moral 
i)estilences. I say, when they were told all this, and in this way, 
it is not wonderful that they were slow, very slow, to acknowl- 
edge the truth of such denunciations, and to join the ranks of 
their denouncers, in a hue and cry against themselves. 

To have expected them to do otherwise than they did — to 
have expected them not to meet denunciation with anathema — 
was to expect a reversal of human nature, which is God's decree 
and can never be reversed. 

When the conduct of men is designed to be influenced, per- 
suasion, kind, unassuming persuasion, should ever be adopted. 
Jt is an old and a true maxim "that a drop of honey catches 
more flies than a gallon of gall." So with men. If you would 
win your man to your cause, first convince him that you are his 
sincere friend. Therein is a drop of honey that catches his 
heart, which, say what he will, is the great high road to his 
reason, and which, when once gained, you will find but little 

14 



trouble _m convincino- his judomcnt of the justice of your 
cause, It nideed that cause reahy be a just oue. On the con- 
t'-ary, assume to (hctate to his judgment, or to command his 
action, or to mark hmi as one to be shunned and despised and he 
\v.ll retreat withm Inmself, close all the avenues to his head and 
his heart; and though your cause be naked truth itself, trans- 
tormed to the heaviest lance, harder than steel, and sharper 
than steel can be made, and though you throw it with more than 
lierculean force and precision, you shall no more be able to 
pierce him than to penetrate the hard shell of a tortoise with a 
rye straw. Such is man, and so must he be understood by those 
vxho lead lum, even to his own interests. 

CJn this point the Washingtonians greatly excel the temper- 
ance advocates of former times. Those whom they desire to 
convince and persuade are their old friends and companions. 
Lhey know they are not demons, nor even the worst of men • 
tiiey know that generally they are kind, generous and charit- 
aole even beyond the example of their .more staid and sober 
neighbors. They are practical philanthr,opists ; and thev glow 
Avith a generous and brotherlv zeal, that mere, theorizers are 
mcapable of feeling. JJenevolcnce and. charitv possess their 
hearts entirely; and out of the abundance of their hearts their 
tongues give utterance. "Love through all their actions ru'n, and 
all their words are mild;" in this spirit they speak and act and 
in the same they are heaj-d and regarded. And when such is the 
temper of the advocate, and such of the audience, no good 
cause call be unsuccesstul. L!ut I have said that denunciations 
against dram-sellers and dram-drinkers are unjust as well as 
impolitic. Let us see. 

_ _ I have not inquired at what period of time the use of intox- 
icating liquors commenced, nor is it important to know It is 
sufncient that to all of us who now inhabit the world the prac- 
tice of drinking them is just as old as the world itself— that is 
we have seen the one just as long as we have seen the other" 
\\ hen all such ot us as have now reached the years of maturity 
hrst opened our eyes upon the stage of existence, we found intox- 
icating hquor; recognized by everybodv. used bv everybody 
oraught of the infant, and the last draught of the dvinq man 
bvom the sideboard of the parson down to the ragged'pocket of 
the houseless loafer it was constanllv found. Physicans nre- 
scrtbed It m this, that and other disease; government provided 
it for soldiers and >ailnrs: and to have a rolling or raisino- a 
husking or "hoe-(kw\n- anywhere about, without it^ was hositivelv 
uusiittcrablc. So, too. it was everywhere a respectable article 
of manufacture and merchandise. The making of it was reo-arded 
as an honorable livelihood, and he that could make mot( was 
the most enterprising and respectable. Large and small mann- 
tactories of it were everywhere erected, in which all the earthly 



15 



goods of their owners were invested. Wagons drew it from 
town to town ; boats bore it from clime to clime, and the winds 
wafted it from nation to nation ; and merchants bought and sold 
it, by wholesale and retail, with precisely the same feelings on 
the part of the seller, buyer and by-stander, as are felt at the 
buying and selling of plows, beef, bacon or any other of the real 
necessities of life. Universal public opinion not only tolerated, 
but recognized and adopted its use. 

It is true that even then it was known and acknowledged 
that many were greatly injured by it; but none seemed to think 
the injury arose from the use of a bad thing, but from the abuse 
of a very good thing. The victims of it were to be pitied, and 
compassioned, just as are the heirs of consumption, and other 
hereditary diseases. Their failing was treated as a misfortune, 
not as a crime, or even as a disgrace. 

If then, what I have been saying is true, is it wonderful 
that some should think and act now, as all thought and acted 
twenty years ago, and is it just to assail, condemn and despise 
them for doing so? The universal sense of mankind on any 
subject, is an argument, or at least an influence not easily over- 
come. The success of the argument in favor of the existence 
of an overruling Providence mainly depends upon that sense ; 
and men ought not, in justice, to be denounced for yielding to 
it in any case, or giving it up slowly, especially when they are 
backed by interest, fixed habits or burning appetites. 

Another error, as it seems to me, into which the old reform- 
ers fell was the position that all habitual drunkards were utterly 
incorrigible, and therefore must be turned adrift, and damned 
without remedy, in order that the grace of temperance might 
abound, to the temperate then, and to all mankind some hundreds 
of years thereafter. There is in this something so repugnant to 
humanity, so uncharitable, so cold blooded and feelingless, that it 
never did, nor never can enlist the enthusiasm of a popular cause. 
We could not love the man who taught it — we could not hear 
him with patience. The heart could not throw open its portals 
to it, the generous man could not adopt it, it could not mix with 
his blood. It looked so fiendishly selfish, so like throwing fathers 
and brothers overboard to lighten the boat for our security-^ 
that the noble-minded shrank from the manifest meanness of the 
thing. And besides this, the benefits of a reformation to be 
effected by such a system were too remote in point of time to 
warmly engage many in its behalf. Few can be induced to labor 
exclusively for posterity, and none will do it enthusiastically. 
Posterity has done nothing for us ; and theorize on it as we may. 
practically we shall do very little for it unless we are made to 
think we are, at the same time, doing something for ourselves. 

What an ignorance of human nature does it exhibit to ask 
or expect a whole community to rise up and labor for the tem- 

16 



-poral happiness of others, after themselves shall be consigned 
to the dust, a majority of which community take no pains what- 
ever to secure their own eternal welfare at no greater distant 
day? Great distance in either time or space has wonderful 
power to lull and render quiescent the human mind. Pleasures 
to be enjoyed, or pains to be endured, after we shall be dead 
and gone are but little regarded, even in our own cases, and 
jnuch less in the cases of others. 

Still, in addition to this, there is something so ludicrous in 
promises of good, or threats of evil, a great way ofif, as to render 
the whole subject with which they are connected, easily turned 
into ridicule. "Better lay down that spade you're stealing, 
Paddy — if you don't you'll pay for it at the day of judgment." 
"^'Be the powers, if ye'U credit me so long PU take another jist." 

By the Washingtonians this system of consigning the habit- 
ual drunkard to hopless ruin is repudiated. They adopt a more 
enlarged philanthropy, they go for present as well as future good. 
They labor for all now living, as well as hereafter to live. They 
teach hope to all — despair to none. As applying to their cause, 
they deny the doctrine of unpardonable sin, as in Christianity it 
is taught, so in this they teach — 

"While the lamp holds out to burn 
The vilest sinner may return." 
Jind, what is a matter of the most profound congratulation, 
they, by experiment upon experiment, and example upon exam- 
ple, prove the maximum to be no less true in the one case than in 
the other. On every hand we behold those who but yesterday 
were the chief sinners, now the chief apostles of the cause. 
Drunken devils are cast out by ones, by sevens, by legions ; and 
their unfortunate victims, like the poor possessed, who was re- 
deemed from his long and lonely wanderings in the tombs, are 
publishing to the ends of the earth how great things have been 
done for them. 

To these new champions, and this n,ew system of tactics, 
our late success is mainly owing; and to them we must mainly 
look for the final consummation. The ball is now rolling glori- 
ously on, and none are so able as they to increase its speed, and 
its bulk — to add to its momentum and its magnitude — even 
though unlearned in letters, for this task none are so well edu- 
cated. To fit them for this work they have been taught in the 
true school. They have been in that gulf from which they would 
teach others the means of escape. They have passed that prison 
wall, which others have long declared impassable ; and who that 
has not shall dare to weigh opinions with them as to the mode 
of passing? 

But if it be true, as I have insisted, that those who have 
suffered by intemperance personally and have reformed are the 
most powerful and cfificient instruments to push the rcforma- 

17 



not the world M^ould he va^t ly be efil. 1 ^'''^^'"V ^^^^^^her or 
ishment from it of all intoxLtn dr^ J^ ' '°'"^ ^"^^ ^"^^ ban- 
an open question. Three-foirtlsSfn ''■'"'""'' ^° "'" "°^ "°^ 
ative with their ton^rues anr T h i "'^"^;^/"d confess the affirm- 
^s in their hearts. " ' ''' ^ ''''^'^^' ^" ^he rest acknowleSge 

fo^\^'^:'^^^Z:^''^^:^ '^"^^ ^^^'^^^ ^-^^ ^be 
for that reason, excused f' he rlJ ^'^^^^^'^ cannot do much be 
'^vhato-oodcanldob 1 in:%i^^r\^^'"^ "^-^^^t," says one, 
without signino,- Thi3 ?; " fio ifas £' / V ^'^"^^' ^^^" 
answered more than a mil ion ime T ef ^^ ''''" "^^"^^ ^"^ 
more. For the man suddent ly o in a^n oth ""'^''^^^ °"^^ 
off from the use of drams who has urh? f '^^^ ^^^y. to break 
course of yearr, and until^I^ annefif f ^'^ "^ ^'^''" ^■'^^- ^ lon^ 
oi- a hundred J .Id strongi.L'KlTo e ."' •'''"", ^''' ^^"^^'^ t^" 
appetite can b. , required a o Towe^f";^' '^''", ^">' "^^^^^^ 
such an undert,A-ino' he needs everv '"°'^' ^^^^^^ I" 

ence that can pcssibly be brSoht fn ,.; '"1 '"F^'°'^ '''^^' "^A"" 
hmi. And not <.nlv so, but eve' ^^^^^^ and thrown around 

from ^vhatever argunaent no-h7n^^e n hi ^'""^ f^'°"^^' ^' ^^^en 
his backsliding-. When he rp I i ' '"'"'' ^o 'n^'e him to 

be able to se^all d!;:; 1 % ^^^ ^j^'^ /;---' bim he shouM 

he loves, kindly aiid anxiously poimiof- '' '''^'''''''' ^^^ that 

l-ckomng him back to his foJ;rsJb;^■ i:^;:;^^-^^^ 

fbem^Je' ^hattne^vm dLi^lpi;^" ^^■^^' '^i^^^ -<' -^ ^or 
b-s neighbors do; and that mo -al H ' " ''"^'^^'"- '^'^ because 
engine contended for. Le^ Tsexam"'"'^ -^^ "? ^bat powerful 
man who would retain dii. n.c . "^ *^'''- ^^t me ask the 

t-n he will accept to o-;^ chu ' Ii" '''"'' f^'^ '''''^' compensa- 
Ihe sermon with l,is .Jife s bo^e- !?"'? -^^"i"^'"-^' ^"^' '^' during- 
I ".venture. And why not' Th r wonl n ^'''^' \ • ^'''' ' ^^'A^ 
n' It; nothino- immoral ^.l".! ■ ^'^°"'^^ be nothing irrelio-ious 

Is it not beca^i"e ^e" \ru Idl ""--/.-^^ble-then why C 
^nable in it? Then it s d nfluence^'";^, egreg-iously unfash- 
tbe mfluence of fashion but /he fl?, °^ ^'/i'^'^" ' ^"^' what is 
actions have on our own action ."^"f"^^ ^.b^t other people's 
ns feels to do " as we see al o7r ^' -'^T^ niclination each of 
;nflnence of fashion confii ed o anv naf 'T' '^?- ^^°^ ^'^^ ^he 
things. It is just as stront on n2 P^/!'^"Jar thing or class of 
n^ake it as unfashionable fe w tlSd '^''' '' """^^^^'■- ^et us 
Perance pledge as for husband oiL";i"'"^'-'- ^^""'' ^be tem- 
ebnr.h, and instances will be i,°,T ' ''"' ''''''''' bonnets ta 
the other. ' "'' J"-'t as rare m the one case as 

'•I^"t," say some, ^ve are no drunkards, and we shall not 



18 



acknowledj^e ourselves such by joining a reformed drunkard's 
society, whatever our influence might me."" Surel}- no Christian 
will adhere to this objection. 

If they believe, as they profess, that Omnipotence conde- 
;sccnded to take on Himself the form of sinful man and, as such, 
to die an ig"nominious death for their sakes, surely they will not 
refuse submission to that infinitely lesser condescension for the 
temporal and perhaps eternal salvation of a large, erring and 
unfortunate class of their fellow creatures. Xor is the conde- 
scension very great. In my judgment, such of us as have never 
fallen victims have been spared more from the absence of appe- 
tite than from any mental or moral superiority over those who 
have. Indeed, I believe if we take habitual drunkards as a 
class their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous 
comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to 
have been a proneness in the brilliant and w^arm-blooded to fall 
into this vice — the demon of intemperance ever seems to have 
delighted in sucking the blood of genius and of generosity. 
What one of us but what can call to mind some relative, more 
promising in youth than all his fellows, who has fallen a sacri- 
fice to his rapacity? He ever seems to have gone forth like the 
Egyptian angel of death, commissioned to slay, if not the first, 
the fairest born of every family. Shall he now be arrested in 
his desolating career? In that arrest all can give aid that will; 
and who shall be excused that can and will not? Far around as 
human breath has ever blown, he keeps our fathers, our brothers, 
our sons, and our friends prostrate in the chains of moral death. 
To all the living everywhere we cry, "Come, sound the moral 
trump that these may rise and stand up an exceeding great 
army" — "Come from the four winds, O breath! and breathe 
upon these slain that they may live." li the relative grandeur 
of revolutions shall be estimated by the great amount of human 
misery they alleviate, and the small amount they inflict, then, 
indeed, will this be the grandest the world shall ever have seen. 

Of our political revolution of '76 we are all justly proud. 
It has given us a degree of political freedom far exceeding that 
of any other nations of the earth. In it the world has found a 
solution of the long-mooted problem as to the capability of man 
to govern himself. In it was the germ which has vegetated, and 
still is to grow and expand into the universal liberty of mankind. 

Eut with all these glorious results, past, present and to 
come, it had its evils too. It breathed forth famine, swam in 
blood and rode in fire ; and long, long after, the orphans' cry and 
the widows' wail continue to break the sad silence that ensued. 
These were the price, the inevitable price, paid for the blessings 
it brought. 

Turn now to the temperance revolution. In it we shall find 
.a stronger bondage broken, a viler slavery manumitted, a greater 

19 



tyrant deposed-ni it more of want supplied, more disease healed 
more sorrow assuaged. By it no orphans starvLf no widows 
weepnag-. By ,t none wounded in feeling, none injured i^imer- 
es ; even the dram-maker and the drantseller wi 1 have o d«l 
mto other occupations so gradually as never to have feh he 
change and wdl stand ready to join all others in tlTuniversal 
s<.ig o gladness. And what a noble ally this to the caTe of 

?nZf "n °"' "'^^^ -^"f' ^" '''^' ^'^ -^^^h cannot fad to be 
on and on, tdl every son of earth shall drink in rich fruition the 
sorrow-quenchmg draughts of perfect liberty. Happy ay when 
m uT: r"' '°"''""'^'' ^" J^"^^^'°"-^ subdued, all mat'er^ub^eJt d 
"e toH l"rT"""^' """' ■^'""•^'"^ ^"^^ "^°-- ''^^ monarch of 
orr^aTj^^n'MT-^ consummation! Hail fall of fury! Reigu 

And when the victory shall be complete-when there shall 
be neither a .slave nor a drunkard on the earth-how proud the 
t.tle ot that La;,,/, which may trulv claim to be the birthplace 

"/tharvS^'v °h'''' ^J--, -volutions, that shall havfrded 

1.1 that victory. How nobly distinguished that people who shall 

have panted, and nurtured to maturitv, both he politicaland 

moral freedom of their species. ' P^'uieai ana 

hirt J^'" 'f ^^r^ u"^ hundred and tenth anniversary of the 
birthday of Washmgton-we are met to celebrate this day 
Washmgtcn is the mightiest name of earth-long since mi^t' 

mati'n OnTh%°' "^" ''^^1^' ''''' "^^^^^^^^ ^ moralrefor- 
tTJ!^u u ^^ "^""^ ^ ^"^°Sy ^^ expected. It cannot be 
To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Was' 
ington, IS alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solerm. 
awe pronounced the name, and in its naked deathless splen- 
dor leave it shining on. ctuucbs spien 



20 



A MASTERFUL TRIBUUE 



To the Memory of President Lincoln, Delivered at the Columbia Theater, 

Washington, D. C. April 14, 1907; (Fourth Anniversary of 

Mr. Lincoln's Assassination.) 

By Wm. J. Bryan. 

Ladies and Geuticmcii : — I am glad that circumstances were 
such that I could accept the invitation extended to me by the 
Union Veteran Legion to participate in this memorial occa- 
sion. It is fitting that this sad anniversary should be com- 
memorated and that the exercises should be in charge of those 
A\ ho, in that great crisis in our nation's history, were soldiers 
in an army of which Abraham Lincoln was commander-in- 
chief. I have felt that while these veterans of the Civil War 
still live there is no one nor class to dispute their right to 
preeminence in all such occasions as this. My militarv ser- 
\ ice was so brief and so free from the dangers that these in- 
curred that I do not count myself a soldier, although in the 
Spanish-American War my offer of ni}' services was dated on 
the day that the Avar was declared, and my resignation was 
made on the day that the treaty was signed. So that con- 
structive service covered all the real war; and herein, my 
friends, I realize that we who knew only the camp, knew nothing' 
of war. I bow to the suj^eriority of the veterans, who were 
no4. only willing to fight their country's battles and to give 
their lives in defense of the flag, but who had an opportunity 
to prove their patriotism by long and painful and arduous 
service. 

I appreciate the very kind \yord that has been spoken by 
General lUack. He violates one of the Bible injunctions when 
he praises me. for the Bible says that one should not praise 
the work of his own hands. He was a judge in one of my first 
oratorial contests, and he not only marked me high, but he did 
more than that — he gave me advice after the contest that I 
have always treasured, for I believe it was of great service 
to me. I am glad, therefore, that on this occasion he should 
be the president, the chairman, and present me to you, even 
if his words are more generous than T am willing to admit 
that I deserve. 

I am glad tonight to speak of Abraham T^incoln. I was 
little more than five years of age when the tragic death con- 
\erted a nation's joy into a nation's mourning, but I had 
scarcely reached manhood's estate when T became an ad- 
mirer of Abraham lincoln ; and when I was a student in the 
law school I took him as my subject in one of the contests 
which I entered, and the more I have studied him the larger 

21 



lias become my appreciation of him. T am o-iad thaf .t ,h- 
time we are so far removed from the vreluhr. 1a '^ 

eng-endered by a strife that we can beho cM f. ^^''-^^ 

figure in our nation's history and that in th" ^ .^^o^^^g 

liim all sections of our rema'ited land ^^^Vi^i^''-'^^^^^" °^ 
this occasion I desire toll-awl ew\e?sonf fri^m^Hfe' S" 
was one of the o-reat nm^r^rc ^f +i • ''-^^'^"^ irom hte. He 

V- i Lut, j^iCdL orators OI this rnnnfri- T K T ,1 

when the history of onr nnKi; '"'^ .^'^""y^}'- i believe that 

testify, beJusXnZ^s h"a d h m t;:V''"^^•r'*?" ^^" 
ing the speaker the other left fh'li ^^-^ audience admir- 

mmsssm 

mmsmi 

lucid Ser„^"Tn,',"/T '■'"■''''"^■' °f "'<= ^■■' °f ':'^="- and 



jcct clear and easily understood. He understood the use of 
the interrogator}' he could put an argument in a question ; and 
that is one of the arts of oratory. Some of the strongest argu- 
ments ever presented in speech have been presented in the 
form oi a question. Christ c;aye us an illustration of that; 
"^^"hat shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and 
lose his own soul?" How many volumes can you w^rite before 
YOU will present that argument as strongly as it is presented 
in that question? An unanswerable argument presented in 
a question. I do not believe we have any illustratinn in inil^lic 
life in this country of greater power of statement, or clearer, 
greater force in questioning than that presented by Abraham 
Lincoln. There is a question that he presented in one of his 
messages, and if the country had not been wrought up. if 
passion had not at that time clouded the vision, if the blood 
had not at that time been so hot that calmness was impos- 
sible, the question that he put must, it seems to me, have car- 
ried conviction with it. You will remember the powerful plea 
he made: 'AA'hat if we do have Avar, it must end sometime; 
we must live here side by side in peace — we cannot separate, 
nature placed us so," and then the question, "Can aliens make 
treaties easier than friends can make laws?" A\'hcre will you 
find an argument that is stronger than the argun^.ent carried 
in that simple question? 

r.ut he A\as mare than a great orator, he was a great 
statesman. ( Hir crmntry has j^roduced no superior to him as 
an executive dealing with prol.^lems as a practical statesman, 
with a grasp on things that he had. ]\Iorse defines a states- 
man as a man who foresees and foretells. I^incoln was a 
statesman ; he could foresee and he foretold, f^incoln under- 
stood the human heart; he understood the American people; 
he understood the principles involved in the great contest ; 
and he could look ahead and s- , and he spoke out. It is said 
that when he was preparing th.at speech that was the first in 
his national career, the s])eech at Springfield, he walked the 
fioor trying to find some expression that would bring to the 
people the thought that was in his own mind ; and at last he 
said, "I have found it. I'he A.merican people are a Bible- 
reading people, and a I'ible quotation will not only be recog- 
nized by them, l)ut it will have more infiuence with them than 
anything else I could (|Uote ;" and then he quoted this; "A 
liouse divided against itself shall not stand." In my judgment 
it is the most effective T'ible quotation that was ever used in 
the discussion of a public issue. And then, gning beyond the 
strife, he foresaw the time when the house would cease to be 
di\ided. 

Forty-two years ago he passed from cartli at the very- 
climax of his great career. How happy he is tonight if from 



Ills abode above he can look down upon this country and see 
his prophecy fulhlled ; the house no longer divided the root 
of bitterness taken away, the people reunited, a nation one as 
he wanted it to be. He foresaw, he foretold. 

He had another quality of statesmanship : he had moral 
courage. I am not sure but moral courage is a finer virtue 
than physical courage; I am not sure but it is more difficult 
lor a person to meet great opposition that does not endanger 
Ihe body than to meet the opposition that imperils the body 
It moral courage is not more difficult to exhibit and more 
rare, it is certainly an indispensible thing for a statesman • and 
Lincoln had it. Lincoln dared to stand alone; he dared to 
speak his thoughts; he dared to have his position; he dared to 
submit his reasons and abide the consequences He had pas- 
sions—wonderful passions. On the one side he had some 
which would hold him back, and on the other, some which 
would push him faster than he felt he ought to go. I never 
read the letter he wrote to Horace Greeley without feeling 
that my admiration for Lincoln rises a little more It was the 
statement of the man who saw the light that he was to follow 
who was determined to follow it, and who was willing to wait 
and suffer any kind of criticism until the time came to act 
He fitted into his time; we needed then just such a man. 

The kindness of the man! Have you read Markham's 
poem, Abraham Lincoln?"' Markham has about a dozen lines 
that contain similes that I think have not been surpassed for 
their beauty; and the one that I like best of them all was that 
in which he described Lincoln by saying that he had the lov- 
ing kindness of the wayside well. I could see the well by the 
wayside where the traveler passing along stopped to quench 
his thirst; the well that is always at hand; the well that is 
triend to everyone. I do not know that I have ever read a 
phrase that better describes a great, loving, overflowing heart 
than that— the loving kindness of the wayside well. 

He fitted into his time because he was great enough to 
hate slavery without hating slave-holders. And do you know 
that that is one of the God-like things to which man should 
aspire— to hate wrong and love the wrongdoer? To recoo-nize 
honesty on the other side as well as on vour side, and let 
your fight be egainst wrong. (Applause.)' My friends I do 
not know of another man anywhere who was his equal in 
depth and breadth of view. Born in Kentuckv and reared in 
Illinois, he seemed to have been prepared for 'the great work 
he had to do. He loved the southern people, but his heart 
revoltea against the institution of slavery. He wanted to get 
nd of slavery and he did not want to hurt anvbody who dif- 
fered from him on the question. A great man in a great time ' 
But there were two sections of the countrv, and thev differed 



2i 



upon a great question, and there was honesty on both sides. 
There was conscience behind the gun that pointed north and 
conscience behind the g"un that pointed south. (Applause.) 
These people met questions that they had to settle ; these peo- 
ple met to settle the questions by th only way that seemed 
possible. A difference that defied a peaceful settlement. There 
were some in the North who were not broad enough to love 
the people of the South, in spite of the institution that was 
doomed ; and there were those in the South not broad enough 
to love the ])cople in the Nortli in spite of their opposition 
to slavery. But Lincoln was large enough to love the people, 
North and South, and only hate the things that made two 
peoples where there ought to have been one people. (Applause.) 
Lincoln was the typical American. I think we have not pro- 
duced a man who better illustrated the possibilities of Amer- 
ica. I believe we have not produced a man whose life gives 
more inspiration to the people than his life gives. We have 
never produced a man whose career was better proof of the 
fact that man's greatness is not of himself but in the vir- 
tues and the ideals which his life presents. Lincoln grew, 
not because he was a great orator, although that helped his 
growth ; he grew, not l^ecause he was a great statesman, for 
until he became invested with power he had not had an oppor- 
tunity to prove that he was a statesman, and his reputation 
as an orator was far greater after his election than before, for 
few of the people of this country had a chance to know him 
well until he became President. He attached himself to an 
idea and he rose with that idea. To every young man Lin- 
coln's life ought to be an inspirationfi for Lincoln's life teaches 
that the man wdio takes hold of a great idea and forgets him- 
self in his devotion to it will gather strength as the idea 
grows, and rise as the idea rises. (Applause.) Lincoln's life 
has well illustrated that. Lincoln's power was more of a heart 
power. I believe, judged by intellectual standards, that he is 
inferior to none. I do not mean by educational standards, be- 
cause he lacked education, but by intellectual standards. 
Measured by mind, measured by power to comprehend, meas- 
ured by accuracy of judgment, measured by aptness of ex- 
pression, he was inferior to none. Rut he was greater in his 
heart than he was in his head, and he proved that which has 
been demonstrated so often before, that while we brag about 
the head we after all respect the heart. Carlisle, in the closing- 
words of his "French Revolution." presents a very important 
thought. He says that thought is stronger than artillery and 
moulds the world like soft clay, and that back of thought is 
love and that there never was a great head unless there was 
a genuine heart behind it. (.Applause.) Lincoln's heart took 
in the world. Lincoln's heart linked him to the common 

25 



people. Lincoln once saul that God must have loved the com 
men people, because he made so manv of them. It vas 1 s 
way of expressmo- ^t, but Lincoln never' used the phrase 'con 
mon people" as a term of reproach, for the hig est como " 

p^op e"'Tn'?^he Pi^Ie'^>" "' Kl'""'' T^ ^^^^ to^he conZon 
people. In the B ble it says that when Christ presented the 

it is a gieat comphment. Lincoln believed in the commJn 
people. Lincoln trusted the common people. Lincoln e 
that the common people in this country were the na ion's 
streno-th. They were then; they are now; thev ever wi be 
The common people produce the nation's wealth in thi es of 
peace; they hght the nation's battles in times of wa Thl 
volunteer sokher. of wh.nn we have heard so eloquenilv to 
n.ght, Ks the common man. The common people work when 
the country needs workers ; they fight when the country i7eeds 
fighters. They make the laws, they enforce the laws and 
because they niust enforce the laws, if necessary the^ a e 
careful when they make them. The common peopk were the 
pople whom Lincoln looked up to. They were^ the peo e 
with whom he Identified himself. lie had struggle in thei? 
lanks and he knew their strength, and he knl^w ha they 
would not fad m any crisis. Lincoln had faith; he was a man 
of ta.th His name was Abraham Lincoln, and it was Abra 

the call of the Almighty, went out a thousand miles from 
home among a strange people, to establish a new relioio 
\\onderfui fa,th it was. And from that faith there gew one 
of the greatest races of the world; and from that flitTtha? 
he estab ished thei;e grew a religion until nearly four hu urec 
million human beings worship" the one God 'at who e caT 

mir"]"" "r"-VT''i ^'''''' \' ^'^^' P^^^-^ influencing all o 
fa [h in iV If ^If '',"?■ '^ '^° ^"^^ ^'^^■^- A"d Lincoln had 
faith in himself. He believed that he could do thino-s He 
understood that which he believed he could accompTish-he 
was able to accomplish. He had faith in humanity and tha? 
IS an important aith. He believed in mankind; he km ew the 
human heart and he knew that when he came ti the heart he 
found that all were much alike. 

.i;ff ^^yJl'^^'f'- ^V ""^ *^^" ^'^""'^ that we all meet. Travel in 
o "r.'io',;'' Mri^l".^j" ^^^^ P^°P^^ ^P^^^^"^§- ^^^ff--t Ian" 
is icf ai'nd f r -"^'^i '''"' t'-aditions and race character- 

istics and diffeiences m history; you will find differences in 

shirb^ t^'^^r'""''"^ ';°'l ''']^^ ^"^ differences in church wor- 
is nV.rb ^r " ^''°" ^"^ ^^\' ^''^'^ -^°" ^^^'" fi"d that manhood 
IS much the same everywhere, and that if you would reach 

^ou'h^ve"/" r °^'"'^'"^'"- ^'^ >-^"^" arguments at the head 
3'ou have to direct your arguments at the heart. It is out 

26 



of the heart that the purpose comes. It is the heart that 
directs the life, and from the heart comes the ideals and moral 
virtues upon which civilization rests. Buckle describes civil- 
ization as a state of the human mind, the principal element 
of which is the moral element. T would ask to differ with 
him. The moral element is essential to civilization, and the 
nations that have i^'one down have gone down because they 
were rotten at the heart. (Applause.) The heart, the heart is 
that upon which we must build, and Lincoln had faith in 
mankind because he knew that in the heart of every man was 
a sense of justice to which an appeal could be made. He 
had faith in the government. He believed in our theory of 
government. He took as his great instructor the author of the 
Declaration of Independence, and in his speeches and in his 
letters he spoke as eloquently of the wisdom of Thomas Jef- 
ferson as any man has ever spoken. (Applause.) He be- 
lieved that our form of government woulcl live; he believed 
that it would spread. It has lived, and it is spreading. A 
century and a quarter ago and a little more, certain ideas of 
government were planted on this soil. They have grown 
here. Our nation did not make these ideas great ; the ideas 
made our nation great. Our nation's position today is due 
more to any other thing to the fact that these ideas have 
emanated from this country. They have girdled the globe. 
The light that \\as shining here has .'^ent out its rays to every 
land, and in all the years our inHuence in the world has been 
a high and holy one. For more than a century our nation 
has been a world power. Not only that — for more than a 
century our nation has been the great power in the world. (Ap- 
plause.) Other nations had their thrones and their armies 
and their ships, and yet our nation with its little army and its 
little navy has been strong enough to force its ideas, through- 
out the world, on all countries. Have you noticed the growth 
of its ideas in the last two years? A\"ithin two years the Em- 
press Dowager of China has sent envoys throughout the 
world to gather information for the adoption of a constitu- 
tion. Within two years Austria has enlarged the basis of her 
representation in the Reichsrath. Within a year the govern- 
of representation in the popular branch of the legislature. In 
England now the great political question is between the House 
of Commons and the House of Lords : vShall the people rule 
through their elected representatives, or shall electorial pow- 
er "put down" the people's power? And look at Russia, who 
until recently, has been a synonym for depot ism. Our blood 
has ])oiled as we have read of people dragged from their homes 
and imprisoned or executed, and. after a while the people by 
infinite suffering and sacrifice, secured the rivilcge of a donma, 
and when an election ^vas held and thev had a chance to 



express themselves they took advantai^e of it In St Peters 
burg- -60,000 votes were cast, and 58,000 were cast aoainst the 
Czars ticket, 2,000 for his ticket. In his votino- precinct 300 
voters were sent to the polls in guarded carriages Ficrhty 
of them voted for him and 220 voted for the opposition \nd 
when the douma convened they did not indorse parties— they 
. were all reformers, differing only in the degree of their rad- 
icalism^ Ihe Czar dissolved the douma and held a new elec- 
tion. The new douma is more radical than the old one It 
was my good fortune to see the first douma in session I 
believe no more remarkable body of men has assembled in 
this world for many years, and as thev sat there you could 
read m their faces the history of a nation's suffering, and a 
grim determination that Russia's wrongs should be* righted 
I he new douma is m session ; the people have spoken again 
and the Czar announces through his premier that the govern- 
ment will approve the people's measures providing- for free 
speech, and free press, and uniform education. Thus is Rus- 
sia moving forward. Thus is the voice of the people beino- 
heard. Ihus are the ideas for which Lincoln contended 
spreading throughout the world, and when Russia enjoys 
these reforms to which she is entitled, and for which she has 
struggled, she will take her place among the great nations 
ot the world, for people who are willingr to die for liberty 
have m them the material of which great nations are made 
I here are three kinds of governments: Monarchy, Aristoc- 
racy, and Democracy. I dissent from two-thirds of them. 
(Laughter.) Lincoln was right when he contended for a o-qv- 
ernment of the people, by the people, and for the people. 
Neither the monarchy nor the aristocracy is among the strong- 
est of governments. A republic is not only the strongest 
and wisest, but the most secure of governments. Why is our 
government stronger? Because the people are willing to de- 
fend It. Our government is stronger because the people love 
It. and they love it because it is good, and it is good because 
the people speak and their voice is loud. (Applause.) My 
friends, it needs not that we should praise Abraham Lincoln, 
his fame is secure. Nothing that we could say would reduce 
his station. Fixed is his star in the firmament, and rising 
higher and higher. It will be seen by increasing millions, 
and wherever seen it will represent that which is highest and 
noblest and best in the life of a government like ours. Lin- 
coln delivered an oration that has no equal in the same num- 
ber of words in this language. The speech that he made at 
the battlefield of Gettysburg, for the size of it and the length 
of it. has never been approached by any human being. If'he 
had never made any other speech, his fame as an orator might 
have rested on that. And in that speech, great because of its 



28 



simplicity, far-reaching because of its dei)th. he said that they 
had not met there to hallow that grottnd, that those who had 
fallen there had hallowed it ; that they were there, not to con- 
secrate it, but to consecrate themselves to the unfinished work 
which they who fell there had so well advanced, that it was 
rather for those who had assembled there to dedicate them- 
selves, to consecrate themselves, to that unfinished w^ork that 
a government of the people, by the people, and for the people 
should not perish from the earth. And so we are met here 
tonight, not that any feeble words of ours can bring peace to 
one who sleeps, n.ot that any flowers of rhetoric can l)e added 
to the flowers that have been piled upon his tomb, but rather 
that in the spirit which he manifested we shall dedicate our- 
selves to that work which was so dear to him. He could look 
beyond the strife and the turmoil and see a united ]:»eople ; we 
now realize the ftilfillment of his dream and of his vision. 
And as we meet on this anniversary, forty-two years after his 
death, when we can see the completed work which he began, 
but was not permitted to see entirely rounded out, we can 
understand, even better than those who lived then, the price- 
less value of his service and the greatness of the work which 
be left to us that follow him. 

I come here tonight to \ie with the soldiers in their hom- 
age to the great, dead President, to mingle my words with 
theirs, and to have my heart beat as their hearts beat in sym- 
pathy with his aspirations and his hopes. I come to join with 
you, with all of you, as he would have us join, in the resolu- 
tion that this nation shall be what he and the others who toiled 
for it hoped and desired and expected that it would be. Mr. 
Thurston has spoken of the effect of the Spanish war in bring- 
ing together people who had once been fighting each other. 
I was where I could realize something of the seaming process, 
for short as was my service it was suflicient to enable me to 
testify from what I saw and heard that the rivalry in the 
Spanish war between the sons of those who wore the blue 
and the sons of those who wore the gray was to see who 
could show the greatest devotion and the highest loyalty to 
the flag which they both loved. (Applause.) But of all these 
regiments, gathered from the northland and the southland, I 
heard them playing the sectional airs, and then I heard them 
join in the national hymns, and I felt that indeed our people 
M^ere one — no north, no south, no east, no west, a larger fam- 
ily our country is today. The glory of our Civil War was not 
that one side whipped the other; it was that victors held the 
vanquished in such close end^race that they soon became good 
friends, and one nation now leads the world in all that goes 
to make up the greatness of a nation. If I ever doubted the 
superiority of my nation, T would not doubt it after having a 

29 



chance to compare it with other nations. We complain of 
our money worshippers, and with reason, but my friends there 
IS more altruism in the United States than there is in anv 
other nation on earth today, and our nation is doin- more in 
a disinterested way than any other nation that lives or has 
hvecl. Our nation today is giving the world ideals, and the 
Ideal is the most important thing. Our nation todav is set- 
ting the example, and that example is having its hifluence 
around the world. Our nation is a peaceful nation. These 
soldiers who bared their breasts to the enemy's fire were 
lovers of peace, not professional soldiers, and when the war 
was over they went back to their occupations. And today 
there are no stronger forces for peace in this world than those 
who bore the musket when their country called them These 
people m this country who. when the necessity arose, were 
wil ing to fight, these are the champions of peace, and these 
understand that a nation's position is to be demonstrated not 
by the force It exerts on other nations, but bv the good we can 
do other nations. Our greatness is not measured by our army 
or our navy, but by our ideals. Our greatest products are 
not the products of the farm or factory, but minds and bodies 
developed according to high ideals, and our greatest factories- 
are not our factories with their towering smokestacks but 
our .schools and colleges and churches that take in raw' ma- 
terial and turn out such a finished product as the world has 
never known before. (Applause.) This nation, with its gov- 
ernment of the people, for the people, and bv the people is 
destined to impress the world as no other nation has impressed 
it, not by force or violence, but by developing here the high- 
est civilization T,ver known, and our nation's rise through this 
development will influence every other nation bv the power 
ot a noble example. ' 

I thank you. (Applause.) 



30 



Lincoln Memorial Association. 



There was organized in Kansas City, Kansas, on the 
15th day of April, 1907, a Lincoln Memorial Association, 
for the State of Kansas, with the following officers, viz: 
Ira Haworth, president; Frank Gibson, vice-president; 
Mrs. A. A. Bmoks, secretary; Miss Bertha Ball, assistant 
secretary; and Mrs. Elmaker, treasurer; with an executive 
board of seven members. 

The object of the association is to keep alive the 
spirit of patriotism and the fame of the martyred presi- 
dent, and encourage a spirit of loyalty in the rising gen- 
eration. 

To this end. it is important that this organization 
should ba augmented, and auxiliary societies established 
throughout this State and the West. 

Persons desiring to assist in this laudable undertaking 
by promoting auxiliary organizations, here or elsev/here, 
should correspond with the president, Mr. Ira Haworth, 
Kansas City, Kansas, and receive blanks and instructions. 
This is an excellent time to start such a movement, start- 
ing out with the centennial anniversary of the birth of 
Lincoln. 



31 



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